Harry Potter Films to Go Rated-R?

Published August 22, 2005 in Movie Discussion

By Ryan Parsons | Image property of Warner Bros

Harry Potter's readers are growing up, as so are the films.

Having read only the first few pages of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, one of my favorite aspects popped up in a editorial titled 'What's Next for our Harry Potter-- an R Rating?'. Though this question may seem a major exaggeration, with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire quickly receiving a PG-13 and the books growing more and more 'adult', rated-R could be the next best thing.

Harry Potter Fires Jinx at the MPAA

One of the best news that Potter fans have heard lately, besides a new GOF trailer on the way, is that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has been officially declared PG-13 by the MPAA. Though some distributors and directors try to stay below this rating to grab the entire movie-going market, most Potter readers and moviegoers were overjoyed to hear the news. What does the upped rating mean? Well, it means great news, as the films are not avoiding the subject matter of the books. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a much darker story and does feature the murder of one of Harry's classmates; something that probably signaled the MPAA to immediately boost the rating to PG-13. Throw all this in with a thrilling Tri-Wizard Tournament and adolescence and it would have been nearly impossible to keep GOF rated-PG without destroying the story.

Due to all the excitement around the new rating, EW was able to catch up with David Heyman and Dawn Taubin [Warner Bros director of marketing] to get them to say a few words about the future of Harry Potter and whether there was any chance of seeing the later films go rated-R. Check out a snippet below:

"We anticipated at some point this was going to happen," says Dawn Taubin, President of Marketing for Warner Bros. Pictures. "It was just a question of when." Although the rating - the MPAA is concerned about "sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images" - may lop a serious portion of the audience off at this 6-year-old knees, Producer David Heyman is unfazed. "Kids loathe to be patronized," he says. "The most important thing for us is to maintain the fidelity to the material. [It's] a little frightening at times, but that's the book."

Only, hold up: In the wake of the painfully tragic sixth book, Half-Blood Prince... goodness, does R-rated territory lie ahead?

Even though Taubin responds to the rated-R comment by answering not likely, he does admit that they must take Harry Potter 'one movie at a time.' You can find this editorial on p.16 of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. *if they are snogging now, what are they doing by the seventh book?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire comes to theatres on November 18th.

For the teaser trailer, footage, movie clips, movie stills, early reviews, movie info and synopsis, go to the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Movie Page.

Stay tuned for updates.

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Compiled By (Sources)

Ryan Parsons
Sources: Image property of Warner Bros
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